Qiu Chang Chun Xi You Ji (Travels to the West of Qiu Chang Chun, 长春真人西游记) was a record of journey of the Taoist monk Qiu Chuji

Qiu Chuji

Qiu Chuji was a Daoist disciple of Wang Chongyang. He was the most famous among the Seven True Daoists of the North...

 from Shandong, China through central Asia to Persia to present himself before Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....

.

In 1220, on the invitation of Genghis Khan with a golden tablet, Qiu Chuji left his home town Shangdong with eighteen disciples, and travelled through Peking and travelled north. In June, they reached Te Hing and stayed in the Lung Yun Taosit Temple from summer to end of winter. On February of 1221, they resumed their journey. When asked by friends and
disciples when to expect the master to return, the master answered "In three years, three years". On February 3, they reached Chui Ping Kou, they saw Tai Hang Mountain to their south. Travelled north then north east, they arrived at Kai Li Po salt lake. From there they went to Lake Buyur, Hulunbuir

Hulunbuir

Hulunbuir is a region that is governed as a prefecture-level city in northeastern Inner Mongolia, in the People's Republic of China. Its administrative center is located at Hailar District, its largest urban area. Major scenic features are the high steppes of the Hulun Buir grasslands, the Hulun...

, Ulan Bator, Arkhangai, Altay Mountains

Altay Mountains

The Altai Mountains are a mountain range in East-Central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the original locus of the speakers of Turkic as well as other members of the proposed...

, Bishbulik, Dzungaria

Dzungaria

Dzungaria, also called Zungaria, is a geographical region in northwest China corresponding to the northern half of Xinjiang. It covers approximately , lying mostly within Xinjiang, and extending into western Mongolia and eastern Kazakhstan...

, Samarkand

Samarkand

Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...

 and arrived at Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush

The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...

 of Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 in 1222 and presented himself before Genghis Khan.

The journey to Persia and back took three years, from 1220 to 1224. The record was written by a disciple Li Zhichang (李志常), who accompanied Qiu on the journey. The Travels consisted of two parts, the first part described the details of the travel to the west and back; the second part contains advices from Qiu Chuji to Genghis Khan.

Chang Chun Xi You Ji was published by another disciple Sun Xi (孙锡), with a preface dated 1228. Xi You Ji was included in Dao Zang (道藏 Depository of Taoist works), but was forgotten for more than five hundred years. Until 1795 Qing dynasty scholars
Qian Daxin (钱大昕) and Duan Yucai

Duan Yucai

Duan Yucai , courtesy name Ruoying was a Chinese philologist of the Qing Dynasty. He made great contributions to the study of Historical Chinese phonology, and is known for his annotated edition of Shuowen Jiezi.-Biography:...

 (段玉裁) rediscovered it from Dao Zang in the Xuan Miao Taoist Temple (玄妙观)in Suzhou,then Qian Daxin hand copied this work and distributed it.

Translations

Chang Chun Xi You Ji was first translated into Russian by the Archimandrite of Russian Orthodox Church Pekin Eccles Mission Palladius Kafarov in 1866.

In 1867 M. Pauthier translated an abridged version of Xi You Ji from Hai Guo Tu Zhi

1888, Dr. Emil Bretschneider

Emil Bretschneider

Emil Bretschneider was a Russian sinologist of Baltic German descent and a correspondent member of Académie française. He graduated from the medical school of University of Dorpat in Dorpat Estonia and was first posted as a physician by the Russian legation to Tehran...

, a Baltic German

Baltic German

The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total. They formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in...

physician posted to the Russian Legation in Pekin, published his English translation of Chang Chun Xi you Ji.